Continuing to be in the red year after year, a woeful saga of inefficiency and mismanagement describes the affairs of the over four-decades-old corporation
The decision by the Goa government to take over all private buses operating on various routes in the state and bring them under the ambit of the Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited (KTCL) to make it a profitable unit and to improve the public transport system needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. Similar experiments were undertaken a decade ago when the Corporation, dissatisfied with the quality of services offered by private transporters, wanted to hire private buses and run them. However, all these essays were unsuccessful in so far as helping the KTCL to rake in the much-desired moolah.
Although the ‘public-private partnership’ merits consideration, it is the financial instability of KTCL that poses a big question mark over its operational feasibility. It is no secret that despite the best efforts by experts to set its house in order, the state-owned transport corporation has just about managed to keep its head over water all these years. Continuing to be in the red year after year, a woeful saga of inefficiency and mismanagement describes the affairs of the over four-decades-old corporation. But is it any different with state transport corporations in other parts of the country?
Way back in February 2005, the Madhya Pradesh government decided, in principle, to wind up the MP Road Transport Corporation and auction its movable and immovable properties to recover tax dues. However, the proposal was negated by the central government while at the same time refusing a financial package to revive the ailing unit. This then is the bane of road transport corporations in India. They just cannot survive without doles being dished out by the central or state governments.
Most road transport corporations in India are state-owned and formed to cater to the transportation needs of the public, with some of them in existence for donkey’s years. Yet their performances leave much to be desired. It comes as a rude shock to learn that only a few of the 62 state road transport undertakings are making profits. Going through a bad financial patch, some states even contemplated scrapping the transport corporations like Madhya Pradesh. In spite of tall claims by the states and the Centre that they are pushing for a reliable and safe public transport system, the fact remains that there are tell-tale signs of how government-run public transport is becoming unsustainable.
When it is said that “state transport and profit making is a paradox,” it is as if it has been prejudged that no government-run public utility service will ever yield rich dividends. Is that why the railways never sheds the tag of being a permanent loss-maker although it ranks as one of the best in the world, with its network covering practically every nook and corner of the country!
The feeling that by virtue of being an organisation that provides a necessary utilitarian service to the public, monetary considerations would hardly be a baulking factor to their operations has made such utilities an auditor’s nightmare. In any case, when Maharashtra and Karnataka can make clear-cut profits, why is it that other states make no effort to study the irregularities and come out with appropriate solutions? Not that these corporations aren’t hiring experts coming out of B-schools but have they been able to convey the simple message that only by focusing on key areas of improvement can profits be increased?
The number of new carriages acquired on and off does not concur with the visage of a corporation hard-pressed to justify its existence. Also, the large fleet of carriages at its disposal is not suggestive of the financial solvency of any state transport corporation. In the same breath, one can also mention about buses being permanently grounded in various depots without any attempts being made to press them back into service. Coaches and carriages are not supposed to rust in depots; they need to be on the road with periodic maintenance to improve their performance. But procurement of new vehicles appears to be a fad promoted by the management. Under these circumstances, no matter how many years of existence most transport corporations may have had, they hardly have anything to rejoice about. Debt-ridden organisations, such undertakings have largely depended on financial support provided by the government to overcome losses.
It is disheartening that year after year, they give no indication of coming out of the red. If audited figures are to be believed, annual losses are pegged higher than the figure quoted the previous year. The very fact that the government has to bail out the corporations speaks very poorly about the business standards set by them. Is it sensible for the state governments to persist with corporations that continue to milk the exchequer dry? For all purposes, a white elephant since inception, no transport undertaking has promised to perform to potential.
Blame it on operational methods if you may, but the fact remains that nationalising major routes to accommodate the transport undertakings has left much to be desired. No doubt the corporations were conceived with the best of intentions, keeping in mind the difficulties faced by commuters in the face of a monopoly maintained by private bus owners. With mismanagement written all over, one is at a loss to understand how the public transport agency of any state will sustain itself!
To add to the woes, with every pay commission revision, you have workers’ unions demanding parity in salaries with other government employees. The matter of loss notwithstanding, have the workers ever been deprived of their monthly paycheck? Maintaining such a large work force is by no means a trifle matter!
Buses criss-crossing roads in cities and the countryside with hardly any passenger is a common sight across the country. The languid motions of conductors and drivers, who are indifferent to increasing the number of passengers, hardly merits any mention. And why should they bother? Passengers or no passengers, they are assured of their pay!
Apart from the schemes announced periodically, one feels the driver and conductor of every bus is equally responsible for bringing in a substantial collection each day. To encourage such a practice, they could be given a reasonable incentive. With the corporations doing enough for employees, aren’t the employees duty-bound to reciprocate in a similar fashion? A management-employee interaction is the need of the hour, where stress is to be laid on the exact role of every individual in garnering business for the corporation.
When one is to delve into the crux of the matter, all fingers will point at the inefficiency of corporations in handling their affairs. For a fact, the transport undertakings are themselves blameworthy and have to stop passing the buck. It is time they revamp the whole system and rejuvenate the organisation. That all state-owned transport corporations continue to incur an accumulated loss with each passing year amounting to crores shouldn’t be a justification for carrying on with loss-making propositions. Why should we entertain comparable arguments being put forth to explain the infection of loss suffered by transport undertakings?
It is in the backdrop of these deliberations that the Chief Minister of Goa has dropped subtle hints about shutting down government-run non-performing and loss-making corporations. Considering the tough measures envisaged, is the KTCL staring at an uncertain future?
(Pachu Menon is a senior columnist based in Goa).